Dee Estuary Birdin0g
Monthly Newsletter...
May 2026
Newsletter
Little Terns - Gronant and Point of Ayr
By the end of May the Little Terns at Point of Ayr and Gronant will be getting down to some serious nesting, so it's time to review the 2025 season.
2025 was a disappointing season, especially at the small sub-colony at Point of Ayr where nesting was abandoned due to high predation by crows. The predation was happening mainly early in the morning so I do hope this year the RSPB can provide wardening cover from first light every day. If anybody wants to help with wardening at Point of Ayr contact the RSPB at Burton Mere Wetlands.
The much larger colony at Gronant had a relatively
poor season by its own high standards with a significant drop in
breeding pairs compared to 2024. The graph below tells the story.
* The graph above
combines data for Point of Ayr and Gronant so differs slightly from the
equivalent graph in the Gronant Little Tern Report (Ref 1).
The graph above shows the breeding success at
Gronant starting way back in 1975 when the RSPB first started to warden
at
Gronant. It shows a remarkably consistent increase in nesting pairs
(blue line in graph) up
to 2019, which is unusual for Little Tern colonies where big
fluctuations typically occur. However, big fluctuations is what we've
had over the past six years! The big drop in 2020 was due to a storm in
June which destroyed 70% of the nests, this was followed by two years
of big increases so that we had record numbers in 2022. We are not sure
why we had this sudden increase but there must have been plenty of fish
for them to feed on. By 2024 numbers had returned to a more 'normal'
level, but still the fifth highest count for Gronant. So it was a shock
last year when there was a further 56% drop in breeding pairs from 166
in 2024 to just 95 pairs in 2025. But at least the productivity was
reasonanbly good last year with a fledgling count of
103 giving an average fledglings per pair count 0f 1.08.
There were some periods of high winds and rain in June which may have impacted on the number of breeding pairs, but when I read through the 2025 Report (Ref 1) this caught my eye:
Para motorists only
passed above the colony, causing disturbance, on one day, the 18th of
May. Numerous para-motorists flew over the Little Tern colony
throughout the day, causing massive disturbance. Some of these were at
near head height, directly above the pens and channel. Wardens made
numerous attempts to convey the colony's presence and direct them away
from it, but were largely unsuccessful. Up to three paramotorists
would fly past at one time and would cause up to 30 minutes' worth of
disturbance. There was no way to identify the para-motorists as they
had no registrations.
This horrendous day of disturbance occurred just as the Little Terns would have been choosing their nest sites, and I'm wondering if many pairs chose to go elsewhere. These para-motors are a real menace!
Little Tern Irish Sea meta-population
The Little Terns which nest around the Irish Sea
are, in effect, one large meta-population and we know from colour
ringing that there is much inter-change between colonies. Because of
declines nationally over many years the
Little Tern is Amber listed in the United Kingdom but the Irish Sea
population is doing well. According to 'Seabirds Count' (Ref 2), the
colony at Gronant increased by 129% between the
years 2000 and 2021 and for the whole of Ireland (mainly the east
coast) they increased by 102% over the same period, with the
biggest colony, at Kilcoole in Wicklow, increasing by a remarkable
258%.
With a record 285 pairs and fledgling count of
around 310 Kilcoole had a record breaking season in 2024, but they had
big problems in 2025 (Ref 3). The colony ended up with just 121 pairs
and a fledgling count which was probably as low as 24. Quite what went
wrong is not entirely clear but was probably due to a localised problem
with food supply. In contrast the colony at Baltray, north of Dublin,
did very well with 143 pairs producing a record number of 247
fledglings (Ref 4). The smaller colony at Portrane, in county Dublin,
also had a good year with 46 pairs producing 41 fledglings, both record
numbers for the site (Ref 5).
Little Terns in England in 2025
Little Terns had a successful breeding season in
England in 2025 (Ref 6). As usual the main breeding colony was on the
Norfolk coast, and it was at Eccles where they had a standout season
with 270 pairs producing 455 fledglings. Elsewhere, Beacon Lagoons on
the Humber Estuary had the highest number of breeding pairs in 50 years
(105) producing 110 fledglings (Ref 6), and several other smaller
colonies
seem to have done well.
Voluntary Wardens
There's little doubt that our Little Tern colonies
wouldn't exist without wardening which help to protect them from both
potential disturbance from we humans and their dogs, as well as
predation from foxes, kestrels and crows. Wardens also just chat to
visitors telling them all about the Little Terns and other species
present, and that can be the most rewarding of all. So please consider
volunteering. At RSPB Point of Ayr contact the RSPB at Burton Mere
Wetlands for information about wardening. For Gronant feel free just to
come along and chat to the
wardens on duty there about becoming a warden, or contact the North
Wales Little Tern Group by emailing: nwlittletern@gmail.com.
Also have a look at this: https://northwaleslittleterns.weebly.com/howyoucanhelp.html
References
1. Joel Tragen, Arjuna Fiutek, Megan Grisewood-Foley and Claudia Smith, Gronant Dunes Little Tern Report 2025.
2. Daisy Burnell et al., Seabirds Count, Lynx Nature Books, 2023.
3. Brian Burke pers. comm. April 2026, Brian also sent me an extract from the Kilcoole 2025 Report.
4. Ivan McKenna, Darci Breslin, Dominic Hartigan and Breffni Martin, Baltray Little Tern Colony Report 2025, Louth Nature Trust.
5. Thomas Kavanagh, Portrane Little Tern Project 2025.
6. RSPB, Signs of hope for England's Little Terns after 2025 breeding success, October 2025 (RSPB Website - Click here).
Richard Smith
Colour Ring Report
Common Crane
NBN - YRG (Black
over blue over black (left) - Yellow over Red over Green (right))
Thanks to both natural re-colonisation and re-introduction schemes in
the UK sightings of Common Cranes are becoming more frequent here on
the Dee Estuary, but they are still very much a rarity and any report
causes much excitement. Such was the case when Colin Wells spotted one
on the marsh off Heswall on April 22nd, there was even more interest
when it was realised the bird was colour-ringed and had a particularly
interesting history - including making the BBC news in Scotland!
She was ringed in Somerset in 2021 as a chick and
was a second generation bird from the Great Crane Project with both parents having been
released as part of that scheme. The RSPB have named all the birds they
have ringed for the Great Crane Project, and this one was given the
name "Sherry".
As a young bird Sherry stayed around the Somerset
Levels area for a couple of years before turning up in western France
in the winter of 2023/24. It was assumed she would pair off with one of
the many continental birds found in that area of France, but instead
she was next spotted in Aberdeenshire where she was seen paired with an
unringed bird - and her appearance as the first colour ringed Common
Crane seen in Scotland, and one from the Great Crane Project, made the
news in Scotland - see 'Rare Scottish crane pairs with
bird from UK project'.
The winter or 2024/25 saw her again in western
France and again she turned up in Scotland for the breeding season in
2025. Here I let RSPB volunteer Amanda Biggins (Scotland) take up the
story:
"Thanks very much for reporting this sighting of Sherry on the Dee Estuary on April 22nd 2026. This is quite interesting and unexpected. As we understand she is now alone it may be that her mate (we don't usually name our birds but he became known as "Trifle") has met a premature end, unless they "divorced" after an unsuccessful breeding attempt. We will continue to look out for him in Aberdeenshire. The pair tended to go missing over the last 2 summers after arriving and were not seen again after mating in late March 2025, but were likely around somewhere, possibly on a nesting site. We then received word that she was back on wintering grounds in Western France by mid-October. They were photographed back in Aberdeenshire on 7 and 13 April this year (2026), clearly showing mud on their backs, suggesting they were at least planning to nest (painting mud on their backs is used for camouflage). It'll be really interesting to see what she does in the future. I think we'll be lucky for her to come back up to Scotland but I certainly live in hope."
RSPB volunteer Alison Morgan, who
actually ringed Sherry in Somerset in 2021, said she was their star
bird!
Little Egret
White (H) Green (L)
Ringed at Hale duck Decoy on 07/06/2024 as a chick.
Recorded at Connah's Quay NR on 03/05/2026, the first record since
being ringed.
Knot
In the March
2026 Colour ring Report I reported a Knot with a white flag seen by
Steve Hinde at Meols in Decemeber 2025. He knew straight away this was
a Canadian flagged bird, something we very rarely see here.
Unfortunately it was a grey overcast morning and he wasn't able to get
a clear
view of the flag, either through the scope or in the photographs. But
he
did think the flag code was probably 2KK (or perhaps 2XX). We were
desperate to see it again to confirm the flag code and in April our
wish came true when Peter Knight managed to get a decent photo at
Seaforth to confirm it was 2KK, and after some initial confusion among
the ringers in Canada they confirmed it was one of their birds. Kevin
Young, our contact in Canada, said they catch the birds when they first
arrive at Alert using Potter Traps when the birds tend to hang around
in small groups for a few days waiting for the snow to melt.
White flag (2KK)
Ringed at Alert, Ellesmere Island, Canada, on 13/06/2025.
Recorded at Meols on 23/12/2025, at Seaforth on 17/04/2026 and at
Crosby on 26/04/2026.
O flag (58X) over white.
Ringed at Bangor Harbour 07/03/2026.
Recorded at Caldy on 30/03/2026.
We don't get many inland knots but during March and April we had up to 30 at the Caldy Wildfowl Collection and several hundred at Burton Mere Wetlands, both associating with Black-tailed Godwits. We managed to log nine flagged Knot at Burton Mere Wetlands and this newly ringed one, 58X, at Caldy.
Black-tailed Godwits
Lime flag(4N2)B*
Ringed at Koudum, Friesland, Netherlands on 29/4/2025, as a chick
Recorded at the Giganta ricefields in the Tagus Estuary, Portugal, in
February 2026.
Seen at Burton Mere Wetlands on 25/04/2026.
This one is a real rarity, it was hatched in the
Netherlands so is the continental race - Limosa limosa limosa - rather than
an Icelandic bird which the vast majority of our Black-tailed Godwits
are.
*I know the flag is clearly yellow but it is because it is badly stained and it was Lime (light green) when it was fitted last year.
During March and April we saw six Orange flagged Black-tailed Godwits
on the Dee Estuary which had spent the winter on the North Wales coast,
including these two below.
Oflag(AK)
For a bird ringed only two years ago this one has quite a detailed
history.
Ringed at Bangor Harbour on 28/01/2024.
It unexpecdetly turned up at Hellifield Flash, North Yorkshire, in
March
2024 before being seen at Burton Mere Wetlands in early summer and
Caldy in July.
2025 saw a similar pattern with the bird at Burton Mere Wetlands in
April and at Caldy in July and August, plus a visit to Connah's Quay in
September. October saw it at Leighton Moss before it was spotted in
Anglesey in November and December.
The two most recent records have been at Burton Mere Wetlands at the
end of March and mid-April 2026.
Oflag(JH)
One of three Black-tailed godwits ringed at Bangor Harbour this last
autumn/winter.
It was recorded three times at the Spinnies, Ogwen, through the 2025/26
winter before turning up at Caldy in April 2026.
Herring Gull
Green (N:10P)
Ringed at Heysham Power Station in June 2025 as a chick.
It was seen again near the ringing location in July before turning up
at Slaford Quays in Septembr.
Recorded at Hilbre on 17/04/2026.
Rock Pipit
Blue (CCC)
Part of the Hilbre Bird Observatory colour ringed Rock Pipit Project.
Ringed on Hilbre on 16/07/25 on Hilbre as a juvenile.
Recorded at Meols in August 2025 and at Hoylake on 05/04/2026.
Colour Rings were recorded by Richard
Smith, Stephen
Hinde, Steve Williams, Alan Hitchmough, Les Hall, Richard Speechley,
Joe Downing, Colin Schofield, Colin Wells and Steve Round.
Richard Smith
April Bird News
With the spring migration fully underway April is
always a good month and this year was no exception. We had some great
rarities, plenty of birds on migration, some interesting wader
movements, lots of birds out to sea and even a few disappointments!
The Sardinian Warbler found on Hilbre on the 8th was
a huge surprise, with around one record a year in this country they are
very much a mega rarity and this was a first for Cheshire and Wirral.
The next big rarity was a Wryneck at Burton adjacent to the railway
track by Station Road, on the 19th. It was found early morning and
stayed all day giving everybody a chance to see it. The last one we had
in the Dee Estuary area was back in 2014 when we had two, one in April
at Red Rocks and one in September at Leasowe.
Next to turn up was a Hoopoe at Gronant on the 20th, showing well at times, as you can see from Joe Downing's photo.
Sightings of both Common Cranes and White Storks are
increasing due to re-introduction schemes and an increase in wild birds
from the continent. But they are still rare here so it was good to see
a Common Crane off Heswall and Parkgate on the 22nd (see the Colour
ring Report above for more details) and a White Stork which flew over
Burton Marsh on the 6th, which was later joined by a second bird at
Greenfield and seen the next day.
I love seeing White Wagtails and am always
amazed that such delicate looking birds are about to fly across the
Atlantic to Iceland! There were two high counts early in the month with
17 at Hilbre on the 6th and 32 on Hoylake shore the following day, but
from then on the tide wrack beween Parkgate and Heswall proved very
attractive to them, plus a load of Wheatears. Numbers were well into
double figures for both species from the 10th to the 18th with max
counts of 80 White Wagtails and 42 Wheatears, both on the 12th.
Several 'Groppers' were seen and/or heard this month, some very confiding like this bird.
But as far as numbers are concerned it was
Willow Warblers which had their best spring for over 10 years. The 23rd
was the best day with around 100 in sea-front gardens at Hoylake and
Hilbre had an exceptional fall with over 200. Common Redstarts also had
a good month with a total of 31 records, compared to 22 last year, the
best day was the 14th with three at Leasowe and two on Hilbre.
The first Whinchats arrived on the 18th, with the
best day on the 24th when five were seen at Leasowe. There was an early
Spotted Flycatcher at Leasowe on the 27th. Just three Ring Ouzels was a
big disappointment, even worse than last year's six. Compare that to
2024 when we had 24 records.
The table below shows the first arrival of a selection of migrants, of
note was the late arrival of Sand Martins whereas House Martins and
Swallows arrived more or less as expected.
It was good to see the terns back, as usual it
was the Sandwich Terns which arrived in good numbers through the month
including 320 off Hilbre on the 14th, good numbers of Gannets and Manx
Shearwaters were also recorded. Puffins have become just about annual
off our coast and we had two records this month with singles off Hilbre
on the 25th and 29th, four Black Terns also flew past Hilbre on the
25th.
Common Scoters gather in Liverpool Bay in spring before they fly across
the country on their way to the Baltic, several hundred were heard
flying over West Kriby soon after dark on the 13th, and 5,000 were on
the sea off North Wirral on the 25th.
It's always good to see the Whimbrels arriving from West Africa in
April, before they fly on to Iceland to breed. As usual the highest
numbers were at Heswall and Thurstaston with a maximum of 198 on the
29th.
The Caldy 'Godwit Field' is well known for its
thousands of Black-tailed Godwits which moult there in later summer and
early autumn, but numbers in spring rarely make it to more than a few
hundred. But this year we had a spring record of 3,460 present on the
15th, and it was great seeing the flock turn 'red' into breeding
plumage through the month. At low tide they were seen to feed right out
on Salisbury Bank, with some even on West Hoyle Bank. Surprisingly,
there were sometimes good numbers of Bar-tailed Godwits with them
including 450 on the 22nd, and it was presumably the same birds seen at
Point of Ayr on the 29th with 460. Although a spring passage for
Bar-tailed Godwits is quite often seen on the Dee Estuary these numbers
are exceptional, and as I write this 800 were counted at Point of Ayr
on May 3rd. Looking at the Bar-tailed Godwit account in 'Birds of
Wales' (2021) that could be the highest Bar-tailed count ever recorded
in Wales!!
Also of note were 11 Ospreys flying over through the
month, a Quail was heard on Hoylake Langfields on the 23rd and 25th,
and a Cuckoo was caught and ringed on Hilbre on the 29th, only the
third Cuckoo to be ringed on Hilbre over the past 40 years.
What to expect in May
The spring migration will still be in full swing, especially in early
May as the photo above shows. To get an idea of what it can be like
read my article Three
Magical Spring Days. One of the last spring
migrants to arrive are Spotted Flycatchers and we should see several
through the month, and also Whinchats, Yelllow Wagtails,
Wheatears and Redstarts.
Most of the waders which overwinter with us left
last month, but May sees birds flying up from where they have spent the
winter in Africa. We usually see a few Curlew Sandpipers which look
fabulous in their full breeding plumage, see the photo at the bottom of
this page taken on
Hilbre last year. I love seeing the Whimbrels and hearing their seven
whistle
call. Numbers usually peak at Heswall in early May and last year we had
186 on the 6th. A good place to see them close to is the stretch of
shore between Caldy and Thurstaston, on an incoming tide there will be
plenty on the mud but they also like to forage quite close to the beach
around the rocks, sometimes standing on a rock posing for photos! Other
waders on spring passage will be Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Sanderling,
most of these will probably have spent the winter in West Africa but
some may well have flown up all the way from South Africa.
We usually see a few Ospreys in May, as the adults
are already nesting these will be young birds, perhaps prospecting
for future nest sites.
May Highest
Tides (Liverpool Gladstone Dock):
17th 12.02hrs (BST) 9.6m
18th 12.51hrs (BST) 9.6m
